Dominican Republic Punta Cuna

[Irene]

My 9 year old daughter and I are vactioning in the Dominican Republic this August. My tickets are paid for and the travel agent mentioned nothing about us needing a passport. I am also divorced from my husband and the custodial parent. What papers are needed for us to get through customs?

If know one knows please advise me on what I should do, because time is running out. We are leaving August 7th., 2000 and returning on August 11th., 2000.

 

[DR1]

You will need at least your birth certificate and other photo ID. Your birth certificate should be an original with a raised seal. Your daughter will need her birth certificate. You should confirm the papers you need with your airline. Note that you have ample time to request a passport. If you will be traveling in the future, this is a good document to have. You will need it to travel to Europe and South America, for example.

 

[Myrna]

You may also need a letter from the Father stating that you have permission to take your daughter out of the country for that specified time frame.

 

[Greg]

As Myrna said, make sure that you get a letter from the father, have it translated into Spanish and have it notarized from a notary public.

I ran into one situation with my two boys (after I was divorced from their mom) where I got to the airport the airline told me that without a letter from my children's mother, I could not leave. When I produced my boy passport they said that as long as I was in possession of their passports it was OK. But they weren't even sure of that.

You have to worry about both leaving the US and returning to the US. The Dominican Republic is also VERY touchy about this. Any single parent traveling with children is scrutinized.

Your best bet is both passports and notarized letter. (You still have time to apply for passports. They can be precessed on a rush basis in a couple days or so -- most "main" post offices in the US now have complete passport processing papers and it can be all done via the mail)

Good luck!